Language in Action - SFL Theory across Contexts - María Estela Brisk
3. From Buttocks to Seminal Muscles: SFL-based Physical Education
Language in Action - SFL Theory across Contexts - María Estela Brisk
Ruth Mulvad [+]
National Centre for Literacy, Denmark
Description
As a rule, language may not be considered a significant part of the school subject physical education (PE). However, just like all other subjects, learning PE is also based on language. Without language, students cannot develop their professionalism in PE Learning. This chapter presents a curriculum plan for PE, developed in close collaboration between teacher-educators and PE teachers, that incorporates disciplinary language learning within PE lessons. The paper illustrates this plan through a series of lessons for 4th grade. The plan includes vignettes with explicit language use by teachers and students to better illustrate disciplinary language instruction for teachers who do not have the experience of incorporating disciplinary language. The first part of this chapter presents the method of analysis of PE, the main results of the project and the Register-based planning model (following Derewianka 1990). Based on this model we developed the language-based teaching sequences in PE reported on here. The second half of the chapter presents one of these language-based teaching sequences developed for a 4th grade. The structure in this part of the chapter moves along the Register continuum, first presenting situations close to teaching practice, then taking a more theoretical perspective on the developed teaching sequence.